Never Enough by Ashley Johnson

hold my tears back. I wasn’t going to cry. I came back to reality when I felt Uncle Gary hug me and I let the tears flow. He held me for a few minutes telling me everything would be ok. I noticed the clock. The band would finish their first set soon and Trevor would be looking for me.
    Gary looked me in my eyes and said, “I’m here for you anytime you know that. I’m glad you’re here.  I’m going to make sure no one’s burnt the bar down. Stay in here as long as you need.”
    All I could get out was a simple thanks. He walked out and shut the door and I let the tears continue to fall. 
    I knew the band was finished with their first set because I could hear a T-Pain song in the background. Unless Trevor could sing like him, they were on break. I tried to muster the strength to get up, clean my face and walk back out to the bar, but I wasn’t ready yet. I heard a faint knock at the door and before I could even think about getting up to see who it was the door opened and Halley walked in. She took one look at my tear stained face and immediately walked over and hugged me. I cried on her shoulder for what seemed like an eternity. I was determined not to let this ruin my night. I just needed to get it all out now and then leave it all in here.
    “Mace, what’s wrong?”
    I whispered, “She lied.”
    Her face became as pale as mine had when Gary told me. “Are you freaking serious? Oh my god no.”
    She was at a loss for words too. That was odd, Halley always had words just waiting to come out. I drew in a deep breath and looked in her eyes. “She took him back. She’s not calling a lawyer and basically I’m a liar. Again. I hate her. I’m done. This is not ruining my life anymore. They will rot in hell one day. I’m moving on.” I know I sounded cold and harsh but I didn’t care anymore. From that point on, I decided that part of me was dead. A whole new Macy was born. A carefree Macy who lived and loved her life and her friends. A Macy who didn’t care about what other people thought or whether she was never enough, because she was more than enough.
    “Good for you. Let’s clean your face up. Trevor’s bound to be looking for you. “She gave me an encouraging smile which I gratefully returned.
    She was just getting ready to start cleaning me up and removing any traces of tears when a brief knock came then Trevor walked in. Just like Halley he saw my face and concern immediately shown. “Baby are you ok?”
    I gave a confident, tear streaked look and replied, “Never better. She lied Trevor. She took him back but I told Halley and I’m telling you. I’m done and I’m moving on. I don’t need her and I sure as hell don’t need anyone’s sympathy anymore.”
    He gave me a sympathetic smile and held me tight. “I’m proud of you baby, I love you.”
    “I love you too.” I kissed his cheek and then replied, “I’m just letting Halley fix my makeup and I’ll be right out.”
    “I’ll be waiting by the bar.”
    He walked out and Halley immediately went to work on removing my tears. As much as the past had hurt, I was so relieved to finally be done with it. Tonight started the beginning of my life. I had everyone I needed in it. I had Halley, Marcus, Trevor, and my Uncle Gary. I was ready to open this new chapter and take it on. When she finished I gave her a hug.
    “Thank you Hales for being the best friend I could ever have. I love you.”
    “I love you too Mace. Let’s go have some fun.”
    We walked out and met our men at the bar. The band didn’t play again for at least another twenty minutes so we just sat around talking. A few people got up and attempted karaoke. Most were too drunk to even get two words out. I laughed so hard. I had thought about singing again but I didn’t want to leave Trevor. I almost asked him if he’d sing with me again but he’d get too big of a head from that request so I decided to put that one off.
    Halley and Marcus were already glued to each other. I